The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-04-15
STORY OF A PLATE.
Or, How a Great Discovery Was
Finally Lost.

Finally Lost.
Had il not been for a miserable acct
dent-had not my hand trembled with
excitement when at the moment when
calmness and nerve were most required
the secret of another lost art might
have been gained for the world. The
story is the strangest that has ever
come within my personal experience,
and my only regret is that l am not
able to make it complete. The secret,
however. is forever lost, and what
would have been of the most inestima-
BILE benefit to the scientific world has
been irretrievably destroyed.
A month ago last Thursday / re-
ceived a note from my friend Samuel
Paige Butler asking me to call upon
him at his lodgings in West Forty
second street the following evening,
provided 1 had no previous engage
ment, and give him my opinion upon
the beauty of piece of japanese porce-
lain ware which he had recently bought
and of which he was extremely proud.
Mr.. Butler is a little less than forty
years of age, has n wide experience
with the world, is n profound scholar,
particularly in the Oriental arts and
languages, and has money enough to
satisfy every want he may have and
allow him to travel whenever and
wherever he desires. For ten years he
lived in Japan and China, after he had
resigned Lieutenancy in the navy,
and is thoroughly proficient in the his
tory, traditions and written languages
of both nations. Besides these accom-
plishments Mr.. Butler is an excellent
scientist, and is particularly well
versed in chemistry. Knowing his
knowledge of Japanese art l decided
at once to accept his invitation, for 1
felt assured that there must be some
reason for asking me to call other than
a mere desire to hear the opinion of one
so ignorant concerning such matters as
myself. The next evening accordingly
found me in his pleasant library before
a blazing CRATE fire and surrounded by
a dazzling display of bric-a-brac, rare
cunos, scientific appliances picked up
in every civilized country on the globe.
The plate which l was summoned to
examine and criticise was of Hizen
ware, which is among the oldest of
Japanese porcelains. 1t was larger by
One-half than the usual porcelain
plaque. The face of the plate was in
describably rich in color. The back
ground was dark green, over which
there We're in raised enamel Of purple
and gold figures of beautiful birds,
whose gorgeous plumage We'd with
hues of the rainbow in brilliancy. The
reverse side of the plate was dingy
brown in color and notified with age.
"This," said my friend. after 1 had
expressed my opinion Of the beauty of
his purchase, sis one of the rarest
specimens Of porcelain Ihave ever seen.
1 have seen but three pieces in Japan
any older I bought it from an ig-
nOrant dealer, who got it from a sailor
and parted with it for a sum so pitiful-
ly small that my conscience reproached
me for accepting his offer, and l should
have doubled his price if / could have
done so without exciting his cupidity
70 such an extent that 1 would have
been utterly unable to purchase it at
any figure. It is my opinion that it
was AlAttNtN ~ Attt1t AAAANG NNAANullES UeSOt
somewhere about the time of Taiko
Sauna, as Hideyoshi, the great Japanese
statesman and warrior, was commonly
called by his subjects. During his
sway the art of making porcelain rose
to a high state of perfection which,
soon after his death, fell into a state of
desuetude and was revived century
later. In the island Kinshin this art
took its origin. and at Hizen this plate
was made. The peculiar style of
tracery on its face proves it to have
been manufactured there. In those
early days porcelains We're decorated
with painful care, and often an artist
would only live to fashion two or three
designs, as the monks Of the dark ages
illuminated the pages of their Bibles.
You viii notice the patience of the art
list who painted this plate. The draw
ing of these birds and the blending of
the colors could not have taken less
than years of patient toll =
While Mr.. Butler was talking he
leaned the plate against the globe of
his students lamp. so that we might
the better observe its beauty. After
discoursing for some time upon the
manufacture of early porcelains-a
subject In which he was deeply inter
estcd-he reached for the plate To eN-
anime il moro carefully, but finding
that il had become intentionally hot
from its contact with the lamp he land
il face downward on-the table TO cool.
IL had not been in that position many
seconds before we both noticed a change
in its appearance. The dingv brown
surface of the bottom Of the plate had
become clearer and lighter in color,
but what astonished us far more was
the appearance of certain indistinct
characters which were rapidly fading
away as the plate cooled. AS nearly
ms we could judge from our hasty in
spection we thought these characters
bore some resemblance % Japanese
letters. Something very singular